Honour by Elif Shafak

Five words from the blurb: Turkey, London, traditions, mistakes, families

Honour is the story of a Turkish family who are haunted by their mistakes. Pembe and Adem Toprak move to London in order to start a new life, but Turkish traditions are never far from their mind. Maintaining the family’s “honour” is vitally important, but this book questions how far a person should go to protect it.

The book started really well with the introduction of some fantastic characters. I was instantly engaged in their story, keen to work out what was happening. It was a little confusing at first because the book jumped forwards and backwards in time, but each chapter was so vivid that I didn’t mind this.

The most impressive thing about Honour is the way it portrays both Eastern and Western cultures with sensitivity and respect. I didn’t know much about Turkish tradition, but this book introduced their beliefs in a way that was easy to comprehend. I understood the dilemmas they faced in maintaining their public image and found the way this impacted on their life in London fascinating.

In England things were topsy-turvy. The word couscous, though ordinary, was treated with reverence. Yet the word shame, though substantial, was taken quite lightly.

Unfortunately I lost interest in the story towards the middle of the book. Everything came together and I felt as though I knew where the story was heading. Luckily I was wrong, but I still felt this middle section was overly long and lacked the sparkle of the rest of the novel.

I ended the book with mixed feelings, expecting to award it 4 stars. But this is one of those rare books that improves with time. On reflection it kept getting better – an impressive number of issues were raised and it is only with hindsight that I realised how clever some of the earlier scenes were. I’m sure that even more would be revealed on a re-read, making this a strong contender for the shortlist.

It is one of my favourite books of the year so far and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys character driven novels that investigate how culture impacts on our lives.

16 Comments

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interesting review. I was not overly blown away by Honour. You lost interest in the middle of the book but I had problems getting into it. Overall I think i’d give it a 4/5 at best. Here’s my review of it. http://wp.me/p2Y7aN-5T

Tanya, I can see why people might find it a difficult book to get into – I admit that the opening is slow/confusing, but I liked that. It is nice to read something that keeps me on my toes and rewards concentration. Sorry you didn’t love it in the same way I did, but 4/5 stars is good enough for me!

I like to read immigrant stories as with three children living abroad I feel quite empathetic towards them. Doing the balancing act between things at “home” and in your new country is a tough act and very few seem to get the balance right.

I’m reading this at the moment and really enjoying it. I’m a big fan of Turkey as I spent 3 weeks backpacking there back in 1998 – beautiful country, so diverse, stacks of history. Would love to see this on the WFP shortlist.

This is my first Shafak book and I like the way she writes. It could have easily fallen into the stereotypical novel of oppressed lives of Muslim women sort of literature, but it didn’t. She has been longlisted for so many awards, I think she deserves to be shortlisted.

I was thinking you might say it’s a contender for the shortlist, it sounds like it might indeed be if your thoughts are anything to go by. From what you’ve said it appears very accessible and informative whilst keeping the plot important.

Sounds like a good reading. I love books about other cultures, and I usually like them when the author is able to explain their traditions and religion in a simple but communicative way.
I didn’t know the book so thanks for the review!

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My Rating System

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Note: All books on this blog are rated on a five star system according to how much I enjoyed them. The ratings are not an indication of writing quality nor how enjoyable you may find reading them.
I am notoriously fussy in my reading tastes, so the star rating will only help if you have a similar reading taste to mine. I tend to abandon books I am not enjoying.